Method of obtaining disruptive or explosive effects.



No. 845,604. PATENTED FEB. 26, 1907.

W. 0. WOOD & H. KNUDSEN. METHOD OF OBTAINING DISRUPTIVE 0R BXPLOSIVE EFFECTS.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 13. 1903.

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WILLIAM OUTTERSON WOOD, OF SOUTH HETTON, NEAR SUNDERLAND, ENGLAND, AND HANS KNUDSEN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 26, 1907.

Application filed November 13. 1903. Serial No. 181,089.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM OUTTERSON W001), a subject of the King of Great Britain, residing at South Hetton, by Sunderland, in the county of Durham, England, mining engineer, and HANS KNUnsEN, a citizen of the United States of America, of Revere House, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, at present residing at 29 Gillingham street, in the county of London, England, engineer, have invented an Improved Method of Obtaining Disruptive or Explosive Efiects, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has reference to an improved method of obtaining disruptive or explosive effects for blasting purposes.

Heretofore it has been usual in blasting operations to employ cartridges composed of appropriate chemical substances which when fired by a fuse or detonator will suddenly combine or react on each other so as to explode, thereby generating a large volume of high-pressure gases, the force of which performs the disruptive effect required for dislodging or rending the surrounding material into which said cartridge had previously been inserted or embedded. The flame resulting from the firing of these cartridges is extremely objectionable and dangerous when they are used in dusty or fiery coal-mines, and the fumes remaining after the explosion are sometimes highly deleterious when the cartridges are used in confined places. We are of course aware that it has been proposed to make the cartridges both flameless and fumeless; but these eifects would be in most cases obtained at the expense. of the explosive force of the cartridgesthat is to say, the substance required to be used with the components of the explosive compound or composition 0 erate more or less to reduce the resulting orce of explosion. Even if the said cartridges should be both fumeless and fiamelessthere is alw ays a high factor of danger present in their use which necessitates their being carefully handled by the persons .whose duty it is to employ them.

Now it is the object of our invention to dispense altogether with substances that depend upon a flame for causing their chemical combination or reaction in order to explode, so that according to our invention a detonator or fuse becomes unnecessary, no flame ocours on the explosion, and the presence of deleterious fumes resulting from the explosion can be avoided. Furthermore, the danger which attends the handling of the usual cartridges is absent in our case.

For the purpose of our invention we employ li uid or other normally gaseous fluid in a liqui condition (hereinafter referred to as liquid air or liquid gas) contained in or supplied to a suitable case or container of metal or other appropriate material, which is placed within a hole formed for its reception in the material to be rended, said case or container being suitably tamped in the wellknow 11 or other appropriate manner. terchange of temperature that takes place between the liquid air or li uid gas (whichmay be at a temperature of a out 312 below zero Fahrenheit) and the surrounding material to be rended causes the said liquid air or liquid gas to quickly assume its aeriform or gaseous condition and generate a heavy preS- sure which will burst the case or container and effect the blasting or disruptive operation.

In order that our method may be clearly understood and readily carried into effect, we w ill describe the same more fully with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which is shown, by way of example, in longitudinal section a case or container to receive the gaseous fluid.

In the drawing, A denotes the liquid-air case or container, which may be made of copper or steel, although we find it preferable to cast it in suitable molds, the condition of the molecules of the metal when cast being more satisfactory for insuring an effectual disintegration of the case or container when its internal pressure reaches the burstingpoint than would be the case if said case or container were made by a drawing or similar operation. Moreover, by reason of the extremely low temperature to which the case or container is subjected by the liquid air or liquid gas and the consequent contraction of the metal comprising them the case or container possesses increased strength to resist interna stresses, which when overcome by the final bursting pressure will cause the case or container to be suddenly and effectually disintegrated and give rise to an explosion of great violence. The said case or container is advantageously made of cylindrical The in- Y shape, with one end closed and the other end formed with a neck a for the reception of a plug-valve a for connecting the vent pipe or conduit a to the case or container and for closing the said neck. In order to enable a tight joint to be made with the case or container by said plug-valve, the latter comprises a stem which has screw-threads a at one end to engage with .corresponding screwthreads at the inner end of the neck a and has at the opposite end a head a, which may be made of square, hexagonal, or other suitable shape for enabling it to be readily screwed in place. The diameter of said stem between the screw-threads and the head is less than that of the internal diameter of the neck a, and it has a central. bore for the reception of the vent-pipe a The inner surface of the said head a has an annular surface a of conical or wedge shape, which when the stem is sore ed in place bears against the outer end of the neck a, and owing to the intense coldness to which said stem is subjected when in place and its consequent contraction the conical or wedge shaped annular surface a very firmly seats or embeds itself against or into the said neck and forms a tight joint past which the liquid air or its vapor as it evaporates cannot escape, even under the heavy pressure that is generated'within the case or container. The aforesaid vent-pipe a is bent upward at its inner end, as shown in the drawings, so as to lie above the liquid air within the case or'container, thus providing a passage for the liquid-air vapor, but not for the li uid air itself. This vent-pipe a is made ong enough to extend to a position of safety for the person using the case or container, and at its outer end it terminates in a valve-casing a", which is furnished with a valve a, that is adapted to open or close the passage through the said vent-pipe by the actuation of a handle or hand wheel a While the said case or container A is being being placed in position and tamped the said valve 07 is left open, so that the liquid air as it evaporates can pass through the vent-pipe a and escape through the openings a" in the valve-casing Without fear of the ressure within the case or container undu y rising and prematurely bursting the latter. When, however, the said case or container has been properly placed and tamped, the valve a is closed. The pressure generated in the case or container is thereby permitted to accumulate until it reaches the bursting-point, whereupon the said case is shattered and the rending effect obtained. The aforesaid plugvalve can in some cases be recovered and used again.

What we claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. A method of obtaining disruptive or explosive effects consisting in supplying liquid air or liquid gas to a burstable chamber, hermetically sealing the said chamber and vaporizing its contents solely by the heat abstracted from the surrounding substance in which the chamber is placed, substantially as described.

2. A method of obtaining disruptive or explosive effects consisting in charging a cooled burstable chamber with liquid air or liquid gas, then introducing it into the substance to be rended, then hermetically sealing said chamber and permitting it to abstract heat from the surrounding substance for vaporizing the contents of the chamber, until the bursting pressure is reached, substantiallyas described.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands, in presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 30th day of October, 1903.

WILLIAM OUT'IERSON WOOD. HANS KNUDSEN.

Witnesses: v

WM. MELLERSH-JACKSON, T. SELBY WARDLE. 

